The wreck of the Costa Concordia is towed by two tugboats as it leaves the Tuscan island of Giglio.

Photo: Associated Press

The wreck of the Costa Concordia is towed by two tugboats as it...

Image 2 of 3

In this aerial picture provided by the Italian Civil Protection Department, the wreck of the Costa Concordia is towed by two tugboats as it leaves behind the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Wednesday, July 23, 2014. The Costa Concordia cruise liner has begun its final voyage away from the tiny Italian island where it capsized on Jan. 13, 2012, killing 32 people. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the Italian Civil Protection Department, ho)

Photo: Associated Press

In this aerial picture provided by the Italian Civil Protection...

Image 3 of 3

In this photo made available by the Costa Concordia wreck removal project information website "The Parbuckling Project", salvage expert Nick Sloane, left, waves from a boat as he is being taken to the wreck, seen in the background, in the port of the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Wednesday, July 23, 2014. The Costa Concordia cruise liner has begun its final voyage, slowly being towed away from the tiny Italian island where it capsized on Jan. 13, 2012, killing 32 people. A daring engineering operation set the Concordia upright last September in preparation for removal. The salvage master of the entire operation, Nick Sloane, told reporters he was a bit nervous just before went aboard the Concordia to monitor the final voyage. (AP Photo/Courtesy of "The Parbuckiling Project", ho)

The Costa Concordia began its final voyage toward the Italian port city of Genoa on Wednesday, 2 3/4 years after it ran aground off a small Tuscan island in an accident that killed 32 people.

Sirens wailed somberly shortly after 9 a.m., when the 54,000-ton cruise ship began its slow rotation, assisted by tugboats and a dozen other boats. Hundreds of tourists and local people lined the port and shores of the island of Giglio to take photographs and shoot videos of the hulking vessel.

The ship is expected to arrive in Genoa, about 200 nautical miles away, on Sunday. The cost of the removal has risen from an initial budget of $300 million to more than $1 billion.

The departure of the Concordia was preceded by an elaborate engineering operation in which the ship was raised after workers spent months fitting 30 huge steel stabilizing containers, known as sponsons, that functioned as floats.

Once the ship arrives in Genoa, the furniture and equipment will be removed from the 16-story cruise liner.

In Giglio, the departure of the ship clears the way for the environmental recovery phase, which should last several months. Salvage workers will attempt to clean the seafloor and replant the rare marine flora that once attracted recreational divers.

There will also be another search for the one victim that was never found.

Francesco Schettino, the Concordia's captain, is on trial for multiple manslaughter, causing the wreck and abandoning ship before all aboard were evacuated. He is fighting the charges and has argued that his navigational skills mitigated what could have been a worse disaster. He also has said he left the ship before hundreds of passengers to better position himself to help in the rescue effort.